Binary clock

Type dec_binary_clock · needs nothing: no network.

Shows the time as binary dots, with the time in digits small underneath. It needs no network. Ported from v1.

"Binary" means each dot is either filled or empty, and the filled dots of a column add up to one digit of the time.

How to read it

There is one column of 4 dots for each digit of the 24-hour time: tens of the hour, ones of the hour, a bar (the colon), tens of the minute, ones of the minute. From top to bottom the dots of a column are worth 8, 4, 2 and 1. A filled dot counts, a ring doesn't; add up the filled dots to get the digit.

For 14:49:

 .  .  |  .  #     8
 .  #  |  #  .     4
 .  .  |  .  .     2
 #  .  |  .  #     1
 1  4     4  9

(# filled, . ring.) Every column has 4 dots, also those that never need all of them: the tens of the hour (0-2) never use the 8 and 4 dots, the tens of the minute (0-5) never use the 8 dot (the 4 dot is filled from :40 to :59).

Layouts

Layout	Shows
dots_time (default)	the dots, as large as fits, with the time in digits underneath ("14:49"). The digits move left and right at every update, as in v1

Settings

None of its own, only the settings every plugin has.

It suggests a refresh every 60 seconds, starting just after the minute changes.

In the config file:

[[plugin]]
id = "dec_binary_clock-f4cf009c"
name = "Binary Clock"
type = "dec_binary_clock"

Try it without a screen: uv run paperpi render dec_binary_clock --size 800x480 --mode bw.

The font is Anton by The Anton Project Authors, under the SIL Open Font License (fonts/Anton-OFL.txt), in PaperPi's shared fonts folder, as in v1.

All settings

Made from the plugin's code, so always up to date.

None of its own.

Its suggestions for settings every plugin has (a block that sets one of them uses that value instead):

Setting	Default	What it does
refresh	60	Seconds between updates (at least 5). Leave it out to use the plugin's suggestion
level	"rotation"	When it is shown: alert, interrupt or rotation. Leave it out to use the plugin's suggestion
layout	"dots_time"	Which layout (see the plugin's page). Leave it out to use the first
storage_mb	500	Most megabytes this plugin may keep in its storage folder; over it, the files changed longest ago are removed first. Leave it out to use the plugin's suggestion
storage_days	30	Files the plugin has not changed for this many days are removed (0 = keep them). Leave it out to use the plugin's suggestion

Sample images

Sample time: 14:49 on Monday 5 October 2026. All sample images are in tests/images/, named dec_binary_clock-dots_time-<screen>.png, where <screen> is 9in7 (9.7", 1200x825, 16 grays), 7in5 (7.5", 800x480, black and white) or 5in65 (5.65", 600x448, 7 colours).

9.7"	7.5" black and white	5.65" 7 colours